TigerHawk

TigerHawk (ti*ger*hawk): n. 1. The title of this blog and the nom de plume of its founding blogger; 2. A deep bow to the Princeton Tigers and the Iowa Hawkeyes; 3. The nickname for Iowa's Hawkeye logo. Posts include thoughts of the day on international affairs, politics, things that strike us as hilarious and personal observations. The opinions we express are our own, and not those of each other, our employers, our relatives, our dead ancestors, or unrelated people of similar ethnicity.

Sunday, January 11, 2004

Alert the media

According a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily News, "schoolyard bullies do not suffer from low self-esteem and are often popular and considered 'cool' by their classmates, according to a new UCLA study." This finding is, allegedly, "contrary to popular opinion."

What popular opinion would that be? The popular opinion that prevails among the education establishment? Apparently so, because "[u]nfortunately, most anti-bullying programs in schools are based on the concept that bullies pick on other kids because they have low self-esteem," said the author of the UCLA study.

Indeed, if the UCLA study is to be believed, the "popular opinion" perceived by the reporter is exactly wrong: "[Bullies] don't show any signs whatsoever of depression, loneliness or anxiety. They look even healthier than the socially adjusted kids who are not involved in the bullying."

I don't know anybody who has actual experience bullying or being bullied who believes that bullies have low self-esteem. The remarkable thing is that the reporter covering this story is aware of "popular opinion" to the contrary. We must run in different circles.